BLOOD CHEMISTRY AND HEMATOLOGY VALUES IN HEALTHY AND REHABILITATED ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHINS ( STENO BREDANENSIS).

Rehabilitation efforts for live stranded marine mammals are guided by diagnostic measures of blood chemistry and hematology parameters obtained from each individual undergoing treatment. Despite the widespread use of blood parameters, reference values are not available in the literature from healthy rough-toothed dolphins ( Steno bredanensis) with which to infer the health status of an animal. We examined serum or plasma chemistry and hematology data from 17 rough-toothed dolphins either housed at Dolphin Quest French Polynesia or during their rehabilitation at the Dolphin and Whale Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, US between 1994 and 2005.

Annual, seasonal and individual variation in hematology and clinical blood chemistry profiles in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, Florida.

Hematology and clinical blood chemistry (HCBC) profiles in free-living bottlenose dolphins from Sarasota Bay, Florida have been monitored over a 14-year period. This long-term dataset includes samples from recaptured dolphins, enabling individual variation to be accounted for when investigating seasonal and annual variability. Four different laboratories carried out the assays and inter-laboratory comparisons found significant differences in 31 of 39 parameters measured.

Pharmacokinetics of ticarcillin in the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) after single intravenous and intramuscular injections.

Three captive loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, were used in four trials, one i.v. and three i.

Aerobic microorganisms associated with free-ranging bottlenose dolphins in coastal Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean waters.

Our abilities to assess health risks to free-ranging dolphin populations, to treat live-stranded or captive dolphins, and to evaluate the risks of disease transmission between humans and dolphins have suffered from a lack of basic information on microorganisms associated with normal, presumably healthy free-ranging individuals. In order to provide these data, we sampled free-ranging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Florida, Texas, and North Carolina during 1990-2002. Blowhole and anal/fecal samples yielded 1,871 bacteria and yeast isolates and included 85 different species or groups of organisms.

Integrating life-history and reproductive success data to examine potential relationships with organochlorine compounds for bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida.

Research initiated in 1970 has identified a long-term, year-round resident community of about 140 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida, providing unparalleled opportunities to investigate relationships between organochlorine contaminant residues and life-history and reproductive parameters. Many individual dolphins are identifiable and of known age, sex, and maternal lineage (< or =4 generations). Observational monitoring provides data on dolphin spatial and temporal occurrence, births and fates of calves, and birth-order.

Steady-state plasma concentrations of itraconazole after oral administration in Kemp's ridley sea turtles, Lepidochelys kempi.

Pharmacokinetic studies of antifungal agents in reptiles are uncommon. Itraconazole, which has been used prophylactically in juvenile sea turtles suffering from hypothermia (cold stunning) on a regular basis, was evaluated for steady-state plasma concentrations. Five Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempi) receiving itraconazole at several dosages in a rehabilitation program had blood collected within 24 hr to estimate dosing frequency.

Comparison of diagnostic techniques for Helicobacter cetorum infection in wild Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

Helicobacter cetorum sp. nov. has been cultured from the stomach of Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus) and the feces of Pacific white-sided (L.

Disseminated mycotic infection caused by Colletotrichum acutatum in a Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempi).

Colletotrichum acutatum is a cosmopolitan plant pathogen with a wide host range. While the organism's phytopathogenic potential has been well documented, it has never been reported as an etiologic agent of disease in either animals or humans. In this case, a juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempi, probably with immune compromise following cold stunning (extended hypothermia), developed a disseminated mycotic infection in the lungs and kidneys.

Subacute atropine toxicity in a pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps.

Atropine, an anticholinergic agent commonly used in human and veterinary medicine, is reported to cause toxicity associated with its antimuscarinic action. A juvenile pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps, was treated with atropine in an attempt to relieve symptoms similar to pyloric stenosis, as has been used in humans. Two doses of 0.